Collectible Beer Steins

Brewing Beer : How To Do It Yourself

If you are one of the many people out there who are a tried and true beer lover, then you are definitely going to want to know how to make beer at home. Not only is it fun to do, but it’s neither expensive, nor difficult.

So, how do you make beer at home? We will cover the main steps below. It really is that simple that you can learn the basic process involved in just 5 minutes.

Making beer at home requires you to only really follow a few steps. The first step of the process being to purchase yourself a beer kit, which you can find easily enough in online beer brewing stores. Make sure that you get a fully comprehensive kit, one that includes all of the different tools and materials required.

Then you need the four main ingredients, which are: water, malt, hops, and yeast. You might be surprised to know water is actually the most abundant ingredient, and makes up most of the final product. Malted barley is barley grain that has carefully been soaked in water until it sprouts and is then dried and used to make beer. The distinctive aroma and slight bitterness of the finished brew is determined by the hops. Yeast is the catalyst which makes it all happen.

The next thing that you need to do is add all of the ingredients together using the beer kit, and there are usually instructions that come with each different beer kit because each kit usually has some different aspects to it.

You can even add your own decided flavors to the beer if you like, however you just want to make sure beforehand that you know what you are doing so that you do not use too much or too little and end up ruining the beer.

Even if you do make a mistake, you can just throw that batch out and make a new one, as practice is going to be the only way that you will be able to learn. After a few batches, you are going to be quite good at making your own beer, and you will be surprised at the freshness and tastiness of it, especially compared to the beer that you are used to drinking.

Best Happy Hours in Cleveland

Lolita is one of Michael Symon’s (of the food network) first restraints. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is only $2 and there are several dishes for only $5. I went with my sister and we ordered the mac and cheese and The Lolita Burger. I have to say it is the best mac and chesse I have ever had. 5-6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. to close Tuesday through Thursday; 5-6 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. to close Saturday. 4-6:30 p.m. Sunday

Lincoln Park Pub – Taco Tuesdays, 3 p.m.-midnight. The Tacos are made on homemade taco shells. If you like hot food try the morning after sauce. Tacos, $1.25; Mex beers, $2.25; margaritas, $3.25

Momocho is one of the hippest restraints in Ohio City. From 5-6:30 p.m. daily they have 1/2 off taquitos and margaritas plus a great deal on Tecate.

Blind Pig – Pizza and wings for $5; 23 oz. beers $2.50, 4-9pm daily. The pizzas are pretty big for $5, big enough for two people at least. The beer special includes imports. They have plenty of very large flat screen TV’s to watch the game on.

Light Bistro -4:30-7 pm, Cocktails starting at $3. Food plates are $5. This is one of the Best Restaurants in Cleveland. The food is excellent, everything is local and seasonal. Go for drinks and stay for dinner.

Sunset Lounge 4 – 7 p.m. daily, discounted drinks, half-off sushi and other appetizers. The sushi here is very good. The atmosphere is also good.

The Flying Fig – Happy Hour: Tuesday – Friday between 5PM and 7:30PM The Fig provides wine-oriented cuisine utilizing the finest ingredients available, sourced locally whenever possible. Beers start at $2

Putting The Home Bar Together The Easy Way

When you have your bar and your cabinets built, you’ll want to get to drinking in it…Now.  But, I’ve seen some make shit jobs that aren’t really all that great.  Then, I’ve seen some expensive setups that are way out of the reach of most of us.

So, here’s the home bar the easy way:

The kegerator is the first thing you put in your bar.  It keeps your keg cool and it adds style in an inexpensive way.

This kegerator can actually make the entire bar.  If you choose to use a kegerator like this to hold your kegs, you can make it a part of the bar’s counter top.  Then, you only need counter space on each side.  That’s a setup made easy, as easy as it gets. 

Grab a tap handle of your favorite beer and now you’ve got something to really get you bragging.  There are tap handles of all kinds, from your favorite domestic to your favorite import.  As a promotional tool, every beer you can think of has a beer tap handle for commercial uses as well as the home bar enthusiast.

But, just in case you have a beer of your own or some other “unrecognizable” libation, get the beer tap handle you can write anything on that you want. 

Tell people, “Try Me!”  Give your concoction a name.  Have fun with it and write, “Make Your Own Beer…” or whatever else you might come up with to prank your friends.

You’ve got the bar.  Dress it up in style.  The kegerator and a beer tap handle can turn any room into a bar.  Your bedroom, your dorm room (oops), your garage, your basement, your tree house…

Anywhere!

DIY Kegerator – A Beer Keg In Your Refrigerator Or Wherever Else

It’s been a dream for many beer drinkers around the world.  But, putting a keg in an old refrigerator for your apartment, den or garage isn’t that hard to do when you have the right material.

A Kegerator Conversion Kit is all you need and there is something that you may have never thought about, but it’s a surprise and I’ll tell you in a minute.  These conversion kits change any old refrigerator into a kegerator in minutes.  Install the shank and faucet directly in to the door of your refrigerator and hook up the Co2 inside.  You’ll be drinking from your kegerator in no time at all.

But, here’s something that not many people think about.  The Kegerator Conversion Kit can also be used for other home bar designs.  Wall mount it to a closet.  That’s right!  Turn your closet into a kegerator.

All you need to do is install the shank and faucet on the wall the way you would the door of your refrigerator.  Then, grab a large trash can full of ice just like you would for a normal keg party.  Hook up the Co2 inside the closet and you are ready to drink some cold beer with the keg hidden in the closet, fully functional for your party.  Of course, this is really only good for keg parties when you have them.  But, you can try to keep ice in the trash can as you keep swapping out kegs.

As this idea starts to spark the imagination, I want to see Kegerators everywhere!  Garages, Bedrooms, Kitchens, Living Rooms, Bathrooms, through the wall to the Patio outside…etc.

Beertaps has the Kegerator Conversion Kit you need!

Drinking Beer and Making Money

You watch people on television having a great time.  Some of the reality television shows allow their contestants to be viewed while drinking.  Some actors like Norm have made a career out of it.  But, can you get paid to drink beer?

It would be nice to know, wouldn’t it?

I loved watching Tara Reid get drunk on the Wild On… episodes that she hosted and on the Taradise show that had a short run.  You sit back and watch the show thinking, “Man, why can’t I land a gig as sweet as that?”

You get paid to roam around the world, find the best places ever and drink their alcohol to show people at home how fun it is.  That’s the gig of the century.  But, then the thought occurs to you that only blessed people like Tara Reid get gigs like that.

Well, not anymore.  Getting paid to drink is no longer a gig for the beautiful and talented.  It’s a job all of us can have.

It seems that there are plenty of beer companies starting a trend.  They love to pay people to drink their beer and give them feedback.

“Just two nights ago I attended a beer & wine discussion group and for about 1 hour of my time, sampling a few different beers and wines and answering some questions I received $70.” Tim Costello, author of Make Money Drinking Beer.

It does appear that the blessings have been passed on to the rest of us.  So, if you think you can participate in a drinking group where people will be drinking and talking about drinking, the learn more about how to make money drinking beer…

10 Awesome Oktoberfest Party Ideas

Oktoberfest is the worlds largest festival taking place over 16 days in September and October. Why not throw your own Oktoberfest party with the help of these Oktoberfest party ideas:

1. Send out invites in the fashion of beer goggles, bratwurst, beer kegs, beer glasses, beer steins or lederhosen. You could cut them out of cardboard! State clearly that guests will be charged on the door if they fail to dress up!

2. For costumes, guys get to wear the awful lederhosen. Hold them up with some braces and you will look truly ridiculous. Get yourself a hat with feather and some knee height socks and you are set to go!

3. Ladies, you get to wear traditional Alpine peasant girl costume. This includes a lacy blouse and a tight bodice.

4. Your decorations should be in blue and white to represent the color of the Bavarian flag. Get plenty of blue and white balloons to stick up everywhere.

5. To make your venue look like a traditional brau haus bier keller, you need long wooden tables and benches. If necessary fix them together, but they should be in a long line!

6. Bake some gingerbread men and hang them from the ceiling. Make cut outs of lederhosen, beer glasses and beer kegs and also hang them up!

7. They may not be attractive but get some German flags for the walls. Also get plenty of miniature ones for the table decorations.

8. Consider hiring out a brass band to play traditional beer hall music. This of course is budget dependant!

9. Some traditional German food you should serve would be; sausage stuffed mushrooms, garlic bread, weiner schnitzel, bratwurst, nuremburger, sauerkraut, gingerbread, apple strudel and black forest cake.

10. Finally on to the beer! Germany makes the best beer in the world! Get in a wide variety of German beer as people will be wanting to sample many different kinds of beer. Make sure you have plenty of glasses and even beer steins.

We hope you have found some useful Oktoberfest Party Ideas here as well as inspiration for your theme party! We also have lots more Oktoberfest Party Ideas to help you with your party preparations and enable you to throw the best Oktoberfest party possible that your guests and yourself will remember forever!

Garrison Keillor – View of Cincinnati, Love of Beer

Cincinnati Poem

We’re in Cincinnati and it’s good to be here
In a city of pork and a city of beer.
Old beer signs everywhere you walk:
“Good Old” Brucks, Brenner’s XL Pilsener, John Hauck
Barbarossa, King Gambrinus, or Crown.
You eat you some Pork hocks with leeks and garlic cloves, you need beer to wash it down.
Similarly, to go along with a pint of beer, you need more than a pretzel
You need Pork Meatloaf with brown gravy and spaetzle.
A big pork sandwich and something to drink,
Geisbauer, Bierbrauer, Linck.
Nothing chintzy
Here in Cincy.
Like it or not, Cincinnati was not vegetarian.
It went for pork shanks with bread dumplings and a pitcher of Bavarian.
No lemonade, no cranberry juice, no apple cider,
But a big mug of Weber’s, Lackman, Jackson, Mohawk, Gerke, Burger, or Foss-Schneider.
And all of the pig was used, even the snout
To make Bierwurst, Mettwurst, Bratwurst, piled high with sauerkraut.

Beers with distinguished names like Butcher & Weidmann and Windisch-Muhlhauser
To give a sense of dignity to the drunken carouser
City of suds and city of swine,
Some greasy goetta sausage and a glass of Christian Moerlein,
Or Little Kings cream ale

Beer by the bottle, the barrel, the hogshead, and the pail,
Golden brown glasses of beer with nice big heads
And Hudepohl-Schoenling, Cincinnati’s finest, hu-dey “Hu dey think gonna beat them Reds”
It was the national capital of beer.
In 1890, they produced a million barrels a year.
Old breweries along McMicken Avenue on the hill north of Liberty Street,
Making beer out of water, yeast, sugar, plenty of hops, and wheat.
Oh in Cincinnati there was lots to do:
You had a Hudy and a Pork cordon bleu.
Cincinnati was a regular culinary riot.
How sad to be on a diet.
What a terrible loss.
To miss out on the roast pork loin with beer sauce.
And it is politically incorrect
And you may object
To my saying so, but I suspect
Something joyful and boisterous and profane
Was lost when we decided to abstain.
A man sitting down to pork braised, roasted, fried, boiled, battered, with a glass upraised,
A man who is a little fried himself and his eyes are glazed.
That may have been the night he became your daddy
Here in Cincinnati.

_____

If you ever find a place that you want to call home

and you can name off the reasons why,

then you’ll be as lucky as this guy!

Oktoberfest Party Ideas

Oktoberfest is the worlds largest fair taking place every year in Bavaria. You can also throw your own Oktoberfest party using the following Oktoberfest party ideas:

1. Send out invites in the fashion of beer goggles, bratwurst, beer kegs, beer glasses, beer steins or lederhosen. You could cut them out of cardboard! State clearly that guests will be charged on the door if they fail to dress up!

2. For costumes, the guys are expected to wear lederhosen leather shorts. They are truly horrible but very funny. Get some braces to hold them up! Also you’ll need some knee height white socks and a hat with a feather in!

3. Ladies, you get to wear traditional Alpine peasant girl costume. This includes a lacy blouse and a tight bodice.

4. Your decorations should be in blue and white to represent the color of the Bavarian flag. Get plenty of blue and white balloons to stick up everywhere.

5. To make your venue look like a traditional brau haus bier keller, you need long wooden tables and benches. If necessary fix them together, but they should be in a long line!

6. Hang cut outs of bratwurst, beer glasses, beer kegs and lederhosen from the ceiling.

7. Get some German flags to hang on the walls. Also get plenty of mini versions to place on the tables.

8. If its in your budget why not hire out a brass band to play some traditional beer hall music.

9. Some traditional German food you should serve would be; sausage stuffed mushrooms, garlic bread, weiner schnitzel, bratwurst, nuremburger, sauerkraut, gingerbread, apple strudel and black forest cake.

10. Of course, the most important element of any Oktoberfest party is the beer. Make sure you stock up with plenty! Make sure it is German beer! There will be people wanting to try many different sorts of beer so get in a variety.

Calories In Beer, Assumptions And Facts

Human relations in business organizations are being given great importance. To encourage this we find that social events and outings are being conducted by mega firms at which serving of alcohol drinks is practiced as a fashion. Although drinking habit has been in practice for many centuries, today, the calories in beer is not taken into account when consuming beer on a large scale at these social gatherings.

If you view the calories in alcoholic drinks, you will note that one mug of beer (12 oz) contains 150 calories, a glass of wine (8 oz) contains 120 calories and one shot of liquor (3 oz) contains 100 calories, but all three contain the same amount of alcohol. Nowadays, in the belief that the calories in beer do not harm the body, it is the most common of alcohol drinks served at these weekend parties organized for fun and relaxation.

At a social gathering or a weekend party almost everyone would consume at least a mug of beer and some would consume 3 to 4 mugs of beer, which would mean an intake of 450 to 600 calories. Due to the assumption that beer is of low calories one tends to consume beer, beyond the limit, which means more calories. Little do people realize that drinking of alcohol, which has become a way of life today, becomes a destroyer of ones health at a later stage.

A person habituated to drinking a beer after meals every day would be consuming about 1050 calories per week, which will add 7 kg to his weight in one year. Seven kilograms in a year will add to his waistline and cause stomach flab leading to pot belly. Very people can limit themselves and the light beer consumes them. The calories in beer change their whole bodily appearance, with that wobbly pot belly becoming more prominently visible adding to the discomfort of the person.

Women are putting themselves in danger of becoming addicted to alcohol drinking habits. Their drinking patterns vary with their consuming 2 to 12 beers on an average. A woman normally consuming 2 to 3 beers per day consumes more than 12 beers at weekends, which is a bad sign.

The calories in beer are termed to be empty calories. The alcohol gets burned quickly even before the fat and carbohydrates and as such get accumulated in your body and the most common area is the stomach area. Persons consuming beer on a regular basis, after a few months, will start noticing a marked bulge appearing in their stomach area finally leading to pot belly.

It has been noted in studies made that you cannot recollect even what you had eaten with your friends at the party, because you had consumed more beer than the advisable limit. The excess alcohol would have dulled your senses and made you eat more of the chips and margaritas, more than you normally eat adding to the calories.

No doubt you would want to enjoy a weekend outing with friends with cocktails. You might want to enjoy with a glass of wine at dinner. You might want watch a game of football with beer to sip and snacks to munch. All this is good from the point of view of enjoyment or relaxation. But, you should never forget that this is going to add to your weight because of the calories in beer and other alcoholic beverages. So watch out. Instead, you could have a glass of fruit juice or a healthy beverage which could save you the blushes of a pot belly.

Remember the calories in beer can give enjoyment and relaxation when consumed within limits. Consumed beyond the limit will bring disaster to your health.